Descendant
by kiminicricket
Summary: She knew he was right. The only way to protect their daughter was to escape while they still could. As they exited the tunnel far beyond the reaches of the city limits, she gazed one last time at the place she had called home her entire life, before setting her eyes resolutely in the other direction. There would be no returning.
1. Chapter 1

Honey Lemon tapped the end of the pencil repeatedly against her notebook, staring off into space, lost in a daydream…

_She was a daring warrior princess, who had travelled back in time and was now defending her castle against a giant she-troll who was intent on destroying the castle and all who resided in it. There had been a mighty battle and all of the heroic guards had been defeated, and the noblemen all injured – it was up to her to save the day, and save the day she would! She leapt into the air brandishing_ –

"Yo Honey! You in there?"

A tap on the desk in front of her brought Honey crashing back to the present. She blinked a few times and looked up to see Gogo sitting across from her, textbook open and an expectant look on her face. It was a week before finals and Gogo and Honey were having their study session at the library. Honey sat up straighter and focused on her friend and study-buddy, offering a sheepish smile.

"Yes, I'm here, sorry, what?" Honey said.

Gogo smirked, well used to Honey's ventures into daydream land and popped a bubble.

"I was going to ask if you would quiz me on this chapter, but now I really just want to know what you were dreaming about this time?"

Honey laughed and blushed. Her daydreams were a regular source of amusement among her friends. She didn't mind, she found them funny also, but she had been trying so hard not to daydream during study sessions, she was a little embarrassed to have been caught out. She shrugged it off though, and leaned forward.

"Ok, well, I was a warrior princess…"

The textbooks lay on the desks, open and forgotten for the moment as Honey explained her latest daydream.

"And I was just about to save the day when you interrupted me!" she playfully poked her tongue out at Gogo.

Gogo sat back and huffed out a chuckle, shaking her head.

"You and your princess dreams..." she said thoughtfully, leaning back in her chair again and popping another bubble.

"Well it's over now, so we should probably get back into this," Honey indicated to the textbooks. Gogo rolled her eyes but nodded, and the girls settled in to try and memorize the chapter.

A few hours later Honey walked back into her apartment and closed the door, leaning back against it for a moment. She looked around the dimly lit, sparsely furnished place and sighed, moving quickly to her bedroom to get ready for bed. She didn't spend a lot of time here – what with university and her friends and their crime fighting alter-egos, she really only came here to sleep. Which was handy since she lived alone and she hated being alone.

She trudged through the hallway into her bedroom, flicking on the television for background noise as she walked past to get ready for bed. The local news anchor appeared on the screen, discussing the unrest between the Southern Isles and neighboring countries, Corona and Arendelle.

Honey stopped what she was doing and stared at the television. There had been a power struggle in that part of the world for centuries, since the time of Queen Elsa and Queen Rapunzel.

The Southern Isles wanted Arendelle, and Corona had been a powerful ally to Arendelle throughout the centuries. Eventually, just over twenty years ago the Southern Isles had changed tactics, attacking Corona, while their defenses were over with Arendelle. They instated one of their own, Prince Karl to rule the country and continued their assault on Arendelle from this new vantage point. Arendelle remained an impenetrable fortress however, and the Southern Isle instated king of Corona was swiftly running through Corona's assets in attempts to overtake the ice-harvesting kingdom.

For some reason, Honey found the whole situation incredibly interesting and so she sat down, watching intently as the news anchor launched into a story about the Coronian invasion, and the possibility of a royal survivor. Pictures of the Coronian royal family started flashing on the screen, starting with Queen Rapunzel and King Eugene and working their way through to the most recent Prince and Princess, who were newly assumed to have escaped with their baby daughter, bringing hope to the patriotic Coronians, and the kingdom of Arendelle, that the rightful Heir to the throne could be found and reinstated, finally overthrowing the Southern Isles for good and restoring peace to the region.

Honey's phone buzzed and she grabbed it, absently answering as she continued to watch the screen.

"Hello?"

"Honey! Are you watching the news?" Fred's enthusiastic voice came over the phone. Honey smiled, he had his conspiracy voice on. She couldn't wait to hear his latest theory.

"Yeah I am actually," she said.

"You do know they are looking for you right?"

The idea was so ridiculous that Honey laughed out loud.

"Fred you can't be serious!" she said when she had finished chuckling.

The news anchor had finished up the story and moved on to another one, so Honey turned away, readying herself for bed and focusing on her conversation.

"Honey, babe, did you SEE the pictures they were showing?"

"Yes, they showed the Coronian royal family," Honey said, not following his logic.

"And have you looked in a mirror lately?"

Honey wriggled into her nightgown and walked over to the dresser in her bedroom, peering into the mirror, trying to see whatever it was that Fred saw.

She saw long blonde hair, wide green eyes framed by large black glasses, a small nose and lips. She turned her face from side to side, analyzing it from the different angles. She realized after a moment that Fred was still talking.

"It would totally explain your history too! It's too much, it can't just be a coincidence!"

A pang shot through her chest at the mention of her past and Honey turned away from the mirror.

"Every foster kid wants to find out that she's a princess Fred, but newsflash, that doesn't happen in real life." she flopped back onto the bed, removing her glasses and staring at the now-fuzzy ceiling.

"Ordinary people don't become superhero's in real life either and yet here we are,"

Honey smiled. Here they were indeed. It had been almost a year since the incident with Krei Tech, and their gang had pretty much wiped out crime in San Fransokio. But superhero's and princesses were two different things, and with all the daydreams Honey already had about being a princess, she didn't think it wise to indulge in whatever fantasy world Fred was currently living.

"Fred, I have to go, I have an early class tomorrow," she begged off the conversation.

"Ok, goodnight your majesticness," Fred's cheery voice sang out before he hung up.

Honey lifted the now-disconnected phone and stared at it for a moment. Fred had had some crazy theories before, but this one was pretty outrageous. She tried to shake the idea, reciting the table of the elements and the different parts of a neutron, but Fred's theory kept popping into her mind until, unable to help herself, she googled images of the Coronian royal family, staring for long moments at the features of the women in the family. Fashions and hairstyles differed with the changing time periods that they lived in, but all of the eyes were a shade of green, and set in a bone structure that was remarkably similar to the one that she wore.

Could it be possible? Could she actually be the missing princess of Corona?

She shut off her phone quickly and shoved it away from her.

"Aiko Miyazaki!" she growled sternly to herself, using her real name – one that only she knew, "this is not the time for your princess daydreams! Get your head out of the clouds and back to reality!"

With that she rolled over and closed her eyes, determined to dream of calculus and chemistry and absolutely nothing to do with princesses.

* * *

Kristopher, the third crown prince of Arendelle, wore a look of focused concentration as he studied the six headshots the private investigator had left him. He spread them out over the desk and six pairs of green eyes stared back up at him. This was it. This was Arendelle's best shot at finding the missing Princess. He studied each headshot in turn, taking in details. A headband on this one, three sets of piercings and some heavy eye liner on that one, one with a small birthmark on her left cheek. The girls all shared similar facial structures and each had the same wide, expressive green eyes.

He grabbed one of the headshots and examined it a bit closer. Aiko Miyazaki, 23-year-old Chemistry student at San Fransokio Institute of Technology. An interesting name for the possible missing princess of Corona, but he didn't rule it out completely.

The night that the princess's parents had escaped had been a terrible massacre, with the entire household – both royals and staff, being brutally murdered in their sleep. The escaped royals had surely seen the fallout on the news and taken extra precautions to safeguard their daughter. It wouldn't surprise him at all if they had given her a foreign name to mislead the Southern Isles if they ever came after them.

Kristopher had been safe in Arendelle, and all of 3 years old at the time of the attack, and so had not known of the massacre until much later, but he had grown up familiar with the conflict of the Southern Isles, and seen the suffering of the Coronian people under Karl's tyrannical rule.

Arendelle had been a close ally of Corona, and so the royal family made it a priority to not only protect their own borders, but also to seek the one who could restore Corona to its former dignity and grace.

Kristopher had been charged with the task of finding the lost princess. His oldest brother was in line for the throne, and still had much to learn from Father. His next brother had joined the army and was working with those on the front lines, doing everything they could to end this war.

Kristopher was glad for this assignment, glad to be able to do something about the situation, and now that he had intelligence on these six possible princesses, nothing remained but to fly out to each of them, and find out if she was the girl they were looking for. Thankfully, they did have a way of making sure they got the right girl.

"Stuart," He called out to his head of security and intelligence. The man appeared in the doorway a moment later. Kristopher continued to study the headshots as he spoke.

"Are you sure the magic will be evident in the princess?" He asked.

"It was confirmed to be in Princess Sophia, her mother, and I'm afraid it is the only chance we have of finding her."

Kristopher nodded, history books stated that the magical healing power that had resided in Queen Rapunzel's hair before it was cut, had remained inside her and been passed down to her children. While the hair of her children and descendants did not glow, it still maintained the healing qualities of the original golden flower if applied directly to a wound while the song was sung. It had also evolved in that the hair could be cut, and the power would remain. If the song was never sung though, it was quite possible that the princess would not even know what her own hair was capable of doing.

A knock on the door interrupted the Prince's train of thought.

Kristopher glanced up at the intrusion.

"The plane is ready your highness," the servant advised, bowing low.

"Thank you," Kristopher dismissed the servant with a nod.

"Well we may as well get this show on the road then," Kristopher muttered to himself as he gathered the headshots into a manila envelope and made his way towards the airstrip. It was time to find the heir, and end this war, once and for all.

* * *

**KC**

**Hey Readers! for those of you who might have read my first draft of this story and thought it sounded familiar, you would be correct! I took it down because I wanted to make it better and hopefully I succeeded :)**

**let me know what you think :)**

**also, if you want to follow me on twitter and remind me to write when it seems like I have fallen off the face of the planet, you can follow me kiminiminimini - I would love to hear from you!**


	2. Chapter 2

Honey woke with a groan. She lifted her head stiffly and opened bleary eyes, noticing that she had fallen asleep at the table on top of one of her textbooks. No wonder she felt so stiff! She rubbed her hands across her groggy eyes, popping a huge yawn as she stretched, trying to ease the kinks in her neck and back. It was just going dark outside. She must have napped for a few hours then. She glanced at the calendar. Tomorrow was the big day, her final exam – forever, if she decided not to do her masters. She was still making up her mind on that.

While it would probably be a good thing to have her masters she would really enjoy not having to do exams. Why did they make you do exams anyway? Honey hated exams. Assignments were so much easier, not to mention more efficient! No need to cram information into your brain, trying to remember it under stressed conditions, no need for the stress of worrying if you studied the right chapter, why, unless it was a presentation, you didn't even have to go into the university to hand them in!

Honey glanced down at the textbook that she had used as a pillow last night, skimming the contents of the chapter one more time before heading into the bathroom and jumping in the shower.

She was just drying off and pulling on her pajamas when she heard a knock at the door.

"JUST A MINUTE!" she called out, quickly wrapping the towel around her hair and pulling on a modest robe before dashing out to her front door, trying to think who would be visiting her when all her friends knew she had an exam tomorrow morning.

She pulled the door open revealing a tall, muscular blond man with broad shoulders and light brown eyes, flanked on either side by older men wearing sunglasses and earpieces. She stood staring at them in puzzled silence for a minute before remembering her voice.

"Can I help you?" she asked hesitantly, looking to the man in the middle. He was very attractive, her sped up heart and the heat in her cheeks told her that much, but he also seemed vaguely familiar and it looked like he had his own secret service, it was a bit disconcerting to imagine why someone like that would be on her doorstep the night before her final exam. She self-consciously crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Are you Aiko Miyazaki?" the tall blonde asked, leaning forward slightly.

Honey stared up at him, now frightened. No one knew her real name except her foster parents, and they were gone.

"Who are you?"

"Forgive me, I am Kristopher, of Arendelle." He bowed slightly as he introduced himself and Honey placed his face, realizing why he seemed familiar – she had seen him on television!

"The- Prince?" she asked haltingly, clutching the front of her robe as the world seemed to spin around her for a moment.

"One and the same," Kristopher smiled kindly.

"Oh," Honey almost whispered, the thoughts dashing a thousand miles an hour inside her head. Why was the prince of Arendelle visiting her dinky apartment in San Fransokio? How did he know her name? What did he want?

Then it hit her.

The PRINCE of ARENDELLE was at HER apartment in San Fransokio! And she answered the door in her robe with a towel on her head!

"One minute!" she practically yelled, slamming the door and rushing to her bedroom.

She bent over, towel drying her hair as best she could while removing the robe and kicking off her pajama shorts. She struggled into a clean pair of jeans and chucked on a hoodie straight over her camisole, quickly finger-combing her hair as she dashed out to the kitchen, grabbing her scattered possessions and throwing them in her room, shoving dishes in cupboards and quickly wiping down the table. She glanced around the apartment quickly, thinking to herself that the Prince could have given her a little bit more notice before popping by for his surprise visit. Realizing that she was probably being very rude to keep him standing in the hallway for so long, she figured it was clean enough and dashed back to the front door, opening it, a slightly embarrassed look on her face.

"Please come in," she invited, noting the bemused look on Kristopher's face as he entered, followed by his stoic bodyguards.

She followed behind nervously.

"Please sit," she invited when they got to the main part of the apartment. Kristopher took a chair at the dining table, his men standing just behind him.

"Can I get you a drink? Tea? Coffee? Water?" Honey offered. That was about all she had so if they wanted anything else they were going to be disappointed.

Kristopher smiled at her again, accepting her offer of water, but his men, aside from casting a cursory glance around the room, did not move, or even acknowledge her offer. Kristopher did not seem to note this as unusual, so she silently got the water and then sat down across from the prince.

They regarded each other silently for a moment before both opening their mouths to speak at the same time.

"I'm sorry for leaving you-"

"I hope this isn't a bad-"

They stopped and regarded each other again before Kristopher spoke.

"I'm sorry, what did you want to say?"

Honey fidgeted nervously and looked down at her hands.

"I'm sorry for leaving you standing out in the hallway, you sort of caught me by surprise," she said, looking shyly up at him.

Kristopher looked at the young woman sitting across from him. A warm feeling settled in his chest as he considered her. Here he was popping in unannounced and she goes ahead and apologized for leaving him in the hallway for a few minutes. He smiled kindly.

"It was no problem at all, I realize we have come unannounced and I hope this isn't a bad time?"

"No no, its fine!" She assured him, "although naturally I'm curious as to why you are here?"

Kristopher nodded and jumped right in.

"How much do you know about the conflict between Arendelle, Corona and the Southern Isles?" he asked.

"I've been following it my whole life," she stated calmly, surprising him. The first two girls he had visited had not even been aware such countries existed. "My foster parents were always interested in the state of things over there, and I guess they passed that interest onto me." She continued, shrugging her shoulder.

Kristopher smiled at the gesture, thinking it quite cute and something in his heart clicked. He was pretty sure he was looking at the lost princess of Corona. The mention of foster parents was a positive sign, and he tried not to ache for her – he couldn't be sure that her upbringing was as bad as a lot of children in foster care.

"Are your foster parents nearby?" he asked, getting distracted from his task as he tried to get a feel for her upbringing. Her expression closed off however and she looked away.

"No, they died in a car crash when I was 14."

And then he did ache for her. She changed the subject back to the reason he was here though with a bright smile that almost covered the pain in her eyes.

"So you didn't come all the way out here to ask about my foster parents and how much I know about the situation overseas right?"

"Correct," Kristopher leaned forward, "have you heard about the missing princess of Corona?"

He watched as the blood drained from her face and disbelief lit her eyes.

"You cannot be…" she trailed off, lost in thought.

He frowned, confused by her reaction, but continued on anyway.

"We believe that you might be her, and wanted to perform a simple test to confi-"

A burst of laughter interrupted him, and Kristopher glanced over to Stuart giving him a questioning look. Stuart shrugged and Kristopher returned his attention back to the now guffawing young woman.

"You're kidding right?" she managed to get out between peals of laughter.

"You're a look alike! An actor! You're working for Fred aren't you? Oh man, I am going to get him so bad for this!"

Kristopher stared in shock, unsure how to proceed in light of this unprecedented turn of events.

"You know, you REALLY actually look like the Prince of Arendelle!" she leaned out and pinched his cheek, trying to gauge if he was wearing a mask. He was so stunned he didn't move as she gently prodded against his face before sitting back in her chair.

"I can't believe he would pull a stunt like this!" she was off laughing again.

"Aiko," Kristopher interrupted. She turned to him expectantly, "I'm not an actor, I am actually the prince of Arendelle, and I think that you might be the missing princess we have been searching for."

Aiko giggled, shaking her head, "there is no way-" she began, but he interrupted again.

"Actually, there is a test that will prove once and for all if you are the one we are looking for or not."

Aiko watched curiously as he pulled out a pocketknife and made a small but deep incision on his left thumb.

"Oh my gosh!" all mirth had left her and she jumped up at the sight of the blood that started trickling out of the wound to grab a cloth from the kitchen. She grabbed his hand and pressed the cloth against the wound.

"Why would you do that?! Its ok, keep this pressed against it to stop the blee-"

"Aiko," Kristopher interrupted, touched by her concern for him, but wanting to prove to her, and himself, that she was the princess they were searching for. He grabbed her hand and gently pulled her back to her seat, "it's all right, it's part of the test."

"Oh," she replied. Then, almost as an afterthought, "you can call me Honey."

"Honey?" Kristopher questioned. Wasn't that a term of endearment for couples? What was she suggesting? Heat rushed to his face as he considered the idea of them together, but as he considered it, he realized that he wasn't all that put off by the idea. In fact it sort of appealed to him. He was warming up to the idea when Aiko shrugged.

"It's my nickname. No one calls me Aiko." She explained.

"Oh," well that made sense. His heartbeat returned to a normal rhythm and he ignored the slight disappointment he felt at this platonic explanation. A disappointment he couldn't explain and didn't want to dissect. He shook his head, dismissing the fleeting notion.

Aiko – Honey gestured to his hand, "so what's with this then?" she asked.

"Right," getting his mind back on track, he reached for one of the still-damp strands of hair that hung over her shoulders, "if I may?" he asked.

She quirked her brow in silent question but nodded her acquiescence, watching curiously as he wrapped the long strands around his thumb and began to sing.

_Flower gleam and glow_

_Let your power shine_

_Make the clock reverse_

_Bring back what once was mine_

_Heal what has been hurt_

_Change the fates design_

_Save what has been lost_

_Bring back what once was mine_

_What once was mine_

Honey stared at the stranger as his rich baritone filled her apartment, sending tingles down her spine all the way to her toes. It didn't seem to matter that this was perhaps the weirdest meeting between to strangers to ever take place, something about that song was hauntingly beautiful and made her insides quiver with something... fear? Maybe. Excitement? A little. And something else, something almost... magical.

She watched as Kristopher pulled her hair away from his hand and he inspected the wound. What did he expect, that the hair would-

Her thoughts stopped dead in their tracks when he turned over his hand and she saw the wound was completely healed.

"Oh my gosh," she breathed, barely audible, she reached out and grabbed his hand, looking at it closely and turning it over in her hands, looking for the wound that had been there a moment ago.

"What just- you were- it was-" she sputtered.

Kristopher was also staring at his hand, before he raised his gaze to meet her thunderstruck stare. Relief, disbelief and exhilaration all crossed his face as she stared into it, searching for answers.

"How," she asked slowly, still hardly daring to believe that it had happened, "does that prove whether or not I am the princess?"

She stared at Kristopher as he told her of Queen Rapunzels healing power, and how it had been handed down to her descendants.

He broke into a wide grin and stood, coming over and crouching in front of where she was still sitting, staring blankly into space, trying to sort out what was happening right now. She barely registered as he took one of her hands in both of his.

"Princess, please, we need you back in Corona! Will you come back with me?"

Exhilaration. Fear. Excitement. Doubt. Confusion. All bobbed around in her head, warring for her attention. She gently disengaged her hand from his, turning blank eyes to him.

"I think you need to go."

* * *

KC


	3. Chapter 3

Honey tossed and turned that night, sleeping fitfully and fighting off various nightmares about her parents. Both sets. In her dreams that night her parents called out for her, and she raced towards them, reaching out for them, but never getting anywhere. She woke regularly but eventually drifted off in the early hours of the morning.

* * *

"_They've broken through! We have to go now, before another moment has passed!"_

_She looked up at her husband with alarm, bending to pick up her small daughter from the crib._

"_But she's so tiny, what if something happens?"_

_He came to stand behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder as he looked down at their child._

"_Something will definitely happen if we don't move NOW!"_

_He opened the secret passage and crept through, motioning her to follow him._

_She sighed, clutching the newborn to her chest before following her husband down the dark passageway._

_She knew he was right. The only way to protect their daughter was to escape while they still could._

_As they exited the tunnel far beyond the reaches of the city limits, she gazed one last time at the place she had called home her entire life, before setting her eyes resolutely in the other direction. There would be no returning._

* * *

She woke with a start, the details of the dream she just had already fading into the fuzzy vague quality dreams took once one woke. She glanced at the clock. The numbers 3:30am blinked at her and she groaned, giving up on sleep and turning to stare at the ceiling, trying to calm her thumping heart and taking some time to process the news that was dropped on her last night.

A few hours ago she had been nothing more than your regular, run of the mill, university student trying to pass her final exams. She rolled over and groaned. Her exam was in the morning! What a night to drop something like this on her! How was she supposed to remember anything to do with chemistry now?

Especially since she had the first clue in her whole life about what had happened to her parents! She had always wondered about them. What was it that had made them drop her off on the doorstep of a stranger when she was just a baby? She sat upright as she realized she could find out what had happened to them, maybe try and find them if they were alive?

A voice in the back of her mind told her that it wasn't very likely that they were alive. After all, Kristopher had been looking for HER, not her parents.

She grabbed her phone, squinting at the sudden brightness and with a few swipes, brought up her search engine, entering a well-known Coronian news source and searching through their archives for anything to do with her parents, the escaped royals from the Coronian Massacre.

* * *

Kristopher stared at the ceiling. This trip was not turning out anything like he expected. What about life here in San Fransokio was so amazing? And more to the point, what girl didn't want to find out she was the princess? It was like a dream come true for most girls! The first two girls he'd visited had been most disappointed when he left without them. Why was Aiko being so difficult about this? He rolled over to his side and glanced at the clock. 5:43 am. Not quite late enough to go back over and talk to her again. He needed to figure out what to say to convince her to go anyway. He lay back and thought of what he could say.

About an hour later, Stuart and Kristopher stood at her door, it was probably still too early, and he still hadn't figured out what he was going to say to convince her to come, but he had been driving himself crazy staring at the ceiling and coming up with clichéd sentences that were aimed to tug at bleeding hearts. As much as he wanted her to come back and take her place as the ruler of her people, he didn't want to manipulate her into it. He wearily knocked on the door. He was surprised when it opened just moments later, and even more surprised to see the tearstains on Aiko's cheeks.

He reached out before he even thought about what he was doing, faltering before actually touching her and returning his hand awkwardly to his side.

"Aiko, are you alright? What's wrong?" he asked, letting his concern come across in his voice.

She sniffed and opened the door wider, motioning him inside. He walked through to the dining table he had sat at the night before. Stuart stayed near the entrance of the apartment, giving them some more privacy than they had had the previous evening.

Aiko went into the kitchen and got them both glasses of water before sitting down across from him and smiling wryly.

"I was half expecting you to show up this morning," she said, her voice husky from the morning.

"I apologize if it's too early," he began, but she waved him off.

"I have an exam in a little while, it's good that you came early, I couldn't sleep anyway." She stared glumly out the window for a moment.

"Aiko, are you ok?" Kristopher was watching her intently, she turned to him and tried to smile, but tears filled her eyes. He ached to comfort her but was at a loss to know how. He reached out and awkwardly patted her arm.

"What is it?" he asked. This was agonizing! Not knowing what was wrong or how to fix it!

She took in a shaky breath and began.

"I realized early this morning that I could find out what happened to my parents, why they left me, why they didn't want me.." she trailed off and Kristopher nodded, recalling the devastating news article that had run in Corona when they had found the bodies of the escaped royals. It made sense now, why she was upset.

"I read all of it," she continued, looking with tear-stricken eyes up at him, "the takeover, the massacre, them hunting down my parents and murdering them!" the intensity in her voice rose with the anger in her eyes and she stood. "Someone like that should NOT be allowed to rule a country!"

Kristopher resisted the urge to jump up and wrap her in a huge hug. This was not the time to lose his cool, he did let out a smile though.

"So, you'll come with me?" he looked at her expectantly.

* * *

Honey stared out the window, at the only city that she had ever called home. It had had its good moments and its bad, and if she went with Kristopher, it was likely that she would never call it home again. She thought of her friends, Gogo, Fred, Wasabi, Hiro, Baymax. Pain tore at her heart at the thought of leaving them, and she struggled to think what she would say to them, how she would say goodbye. Especially to young Hiro, he had just lost his brother over a year ago, was now really a good time to be up and leaving?

Bits and pieces of the news articles she had read this morning floated through her mind. Yes. She had to go and help Kristopher stop this madman from destroying her country. He had been in power too long and it was time to set things right. She turned to Kristopher, noting the hope in his eyes. He really had so much faith in her and what her return could mean to the people. She hoped he was right as she nodded yes.

"I'll go with you."

* * *

KC


	4. Chapter 4

Honey rushed into the café, scanning around frantically for the familiar faces of her friends.

She had come out of her exam to two messages on her communicator. The first: BANK HOLDUP, 73RD ST

The second: HONEY MEET AT CAFÉ ASAP.

Heart pounding with trepidation, and wondering what had gone wrong, she had been out the door, racing towards the little café that Aunt Cass ran.

Her heart slowly started returning to normal when she saw the whole gang gathered around a pile of donuts the table, excitedly discussing the recent fight.

"Oh my gosh you guys, you gave me a heart attack!" Honey scolded as she drew near to the group, pulling up a chair and joining the table.

A round of sorry's and apologetic faces were her response.

"How was your exam?" Wasabi asked.

Honey grimaced.

Gogo shot her a sympathetic look, "don't tell me you daydreamed out in the middle of it?" she asked.

Honey shook her head, "no, it wasn't anything like that-" it was just that her life had been turned upside down by a stranger with a messy blond mop of hair and warm brown eyes who brought strange, world shaking news. Realizing she was probably spending a little too long thinking about Kristopher she took a breath and looked around at the people surrounding her. Pulling herself back into the present, she tried to build up the nerve to tell them her news, and to find a way to say goodbye, but she chickened out.

"So tell me about this fight that I missed, and by the way," she said instead, looking at each person meaningfully before they could start, "if you have been successful, you COULD let one know in a message instead of giving them a near heart attack imagining who's been hurt!"

Their faces were sheepish, but before long, Hiro, who was giddy with success, started chattering happily.

"Oh my gosh Honey you missed a SWEET fight! First the robber was all like…" Honey watched with fondness as he re-enacted the fight for her. It was good to see him so happy and enthusiastic considering the amount of grief he had suffered in his short life. Guilt panged through her at the thought of leaving him, just when he really seemed to be happy and settled.

"And then when Gogo zoomed in and tripped him up just as he was reaching out to grab Fred was-" words escaped young Hiro as he sighed dramatically and slumped down into a chair, grinning at the ceiling.

Honey grinned at the young man.

"I'm glad you are all ok, I'm sorry I didn't get the messages until my exam was over."

Fred shrugged, "all good HL, it was just your run of the mill bank robber who picked the wrong town to rob a bank in, it was almost too easy."

"Still," Wasabi noted, "it's the most action we've seen in months."

It was true, and it made Honey felt slightly better that the town had quieted in the year or so that they had been fighting crime. At least she wasn't leaving the team in the midst of a huge crime spree. But she still struggled to come up with a way to let them know, to say goodbye. How do you say goodbye to the best friends you have ever had in your life?

She looked over at Gogo, who sat, leaning back, with her hands behind her head and her legs up on a neighboring chair, crossed at the ankle. She had her usual almost-scowling expression on her face and was listening to the conversation with an air of indifference, but Honey knew, without a doubt, that Gogo would defend any of their small band of friends to the death if necessary. Her fire and spunk had often helped Honey overcome her own fears and step out into doing what she wanted instead of going with the flow.

She looked over at Fred and smiled, remembering the night they had discovered that he was a millionaire. You would never tell with his usual outfit of baggy pants, a shirt, and a ragged beanie. He never lorded it over any of them or made any reference to it whatsoever, true, he was slightly eccentric, but he was a dear friend, and often through his crazy ideas, had encouraged her to believe the impossible.

Wasabi was such a great friend. This big hulk of a man who looked so tough and intimidating, but inside was nothing but gentle, kind, and not afraid to admit when he was scared. Sure he was a little overbearing when it came to having everything in its place, but he had taught her that appearances can be deceiving, and to take the time to get to know someone before judging them.

It was strange that a robot could teach a human anything, but Baymax had taught her compassion, and to value human life above all else. Maybe it was the fact that Tadashi had poured his heart and soul into the project, the robot was such a big part in Hiro's journey, and she was so thankful for him.

And then of course there was little Hiro, the courageous young fighter who got up again no matter how many times he got knocked down. Losing his parents, Tadashi, and even for a short while there Baymax. She didn't know how he did it.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by the concerned looks her friends were giving her.

"Honey Lemon," Wasabi reached out to her, laying a gentle hand on her arm, "are you ok?"

She realised then that she had been crying and laughed through her tears. She shook her head, how was she going to explain this to them?

"I'm fine, but I have some news. News that is going to change things…" the group drew near and she panicked. She couldn't do this! How was she supposed to tell them that she was actually a princess and needed to go overseas to restore peace to her kingdom? If they didn't laugh at her they would assume she'd actually lost it and had started believing one of her stupid daydreams!

She pushed back from the table.

"I- I'm still processing it. Um. If you guys come around tomorrow night I'll explain everything then."

She brushed through the café to escape back to her apartment when a hand at her elbow stopped her.

Gogo's serious eyes regarded her carefully.

"You ok?" she asked.

Honey smiled and nodded, "I just have to process this news before I share it. It's a little unbelievable." She assured her friend.

Gogo let go of her arm and Honey rushed back to her apartment.

When she got there, Kristopher was outside her door, worriedly looking on as Steve was jimmying the lock.

"What's going on?" she asked, why the heck were they trying to get into her apartment? They were there just this morning!

Kristopher started and then sighed with relief, rushing over to her and grabbing her by her upper arms.

"You're ok!" he said, visibly relieved. Steve stopped jimmying the lock and stood up straight, at attention once more.

"Yes, I'm ok," she shook herself loose and stepped back, regarding him warily, "what were you doing trying to break into my apartment?"

"Aiko, you were supposed to be back from your exam over an hour ago!"

Aiko stared up at him in shock, "and so when I didn't turn up, naturally the first thing you do is break in!?"

"We were checking that you hadn't come in just before us and hurt yourself, and then, ruling that out, checking for clues as to your whereabouts."

Aiko considered this information carefully, still not a hundred percent sure that she was comfortable with this sort of thing.

"Aiko, you are a princess now, and I have asked for your security detail to be sent over while you are preparing to make the move, but until they get here, I might be a little over-bearing. Maybe you should take one of mine in the meantime."

Honey regarded his two silent security guards and shook her head, reminding herself that Kristopher did not know of her crime-fighting gang of friends and her chemical purse. She could take care of herself!

"Give me your phone," she said.

Kristopher looked at her strangely.

"I may be a princess, but I'm still just Honey Lemon, next time you want to know about my whereabouts, you can do this awesome thing that this awesome guy invented a few decades ago and call my cell," she said as he handed over his phone and she typed her phone number into his, saving it.

Kristopher grinned a little sheepishly, "That's a really good idea," he said.

Honey sighed and moved past them to her door. She tested the handle. It was open. Steve was good. She shook her head and walked inside, gesturing Kristopher and his guards to follow after her.

Now that the situation outside her apartment had been fixed up, her previous worry of how to tell her friends flared back up to the forefront of her mind. She whirled around to face Kristopher.

"What is it?" he asked, taking in the pained expression on her face.

She shook her head, "I don't know if I can do this," she said.

"Aiko-"

"Honey! My name is Honey Lemon!"

"Right, sorry, Honey," Kristopher scrambled for what to say. She had just agreed to come with him this morning and he didn't altogether understand what was happening.

"What is it that you cant do?" maybe he was wrong about what she meant.

She lifted troubled eyes to his.

"Be a princess," nope. He was right. Frustration filled him and he squished it down. Clearly something had happened. She had been so full of righteous fire this morning. He looked carefully at her face though and noticed something deeper, something underneath the probably rational fear of becoming a princess.

"What about getting rid of Karl and restoring peace to Corona?" he tried.

She sighed. "Yes, he needs to go, but what am I going to do? How am I going to help the situation? I'm just a girl! The people don't even know who I am, or if I'm alive! What is my return going to achieve?" she turned and stared out the window down at the busy street below.

Kristopher sat back, thinking. Maybe it was best to just voice his thought rather than trying to be sneaky about it.

"Ai- Honey, we have a team of strategists back in Arendelle ready to make your return something worth while. We'll teach you everything you need to know and coach you through everything. I guess that would be a little intimidating, but I don't think that is what this is really about."

He watched her carefully and saw as she stiffened, then lowered her head. He was taken aback when she suddenly whirled around to face him, tears standing in her eyes.

"How am I supposed to say goodbye? How am I supposed to leave them? I cant even muster up the courage to tell them that hey, I'm actually a princess – because like they'd believe that! They'd probably laugh me out of town! But I also have to up and leave to go to another country? I don't know if I can do it!"

She broke down and buried her face in her hands and Kristopher watched, unsure what to do in this situation. Should he hug her? Tell her everything would be ok? He was a little surprised, he thought she didn't have any family to speak of, but obviously there was someone she didn't want to leave behind.

He walked over to her and awkwardly placed his arms around her. She leaned into him and he gently swayed back and forth until the shaking stopped.

She pulled back and quickly wiped her face.

"Thanks," she said, looking at the ground, her face a becoming shade of pink, "uh- sorry about that." She brushed past him and disappeared into her room. He stood in the living room staring after her and feeling strangely bereft of her presence.

* * *

KC

**ok maybe a bit of a strange place to leave things, but this chapter was getting rather long! haha please let me know what you think!**

**I hope everyone is having a Fantastic Easter! He is Risen, He is Risen indeed!**


	5. Chapter 5

Honey paced the short length of her room the next morning shaking her head at her erratic behavior yesterday. Goodness she got emotional when she didn't get enough sleep! She straightened and looked at herself in the mirror. She had made a decision and she was going to stick to it!

She glanced over at her computer; it was still open to a news piece on her parents, their serene faces staring out at her from the screen. She sighed. Some princess she was turning out to be! Enough with the wishy washy back and forth, it was time to woman up! She was going to return, she was going to restore their kingdom, and she was going to find the guts to tell her friends!

She walked out into the kitchen area. Kristopher and Steve had camped out in the spare room, and were now in the kitchen, having a hushed discussion. They stopped and watched her when she entered the room. She smiled bravely over at them.

"Are you hungry?" she asked kindly.

Kristopher turned to face her, "are you ok?" he asked, not answering her question.

Honey shrugged and smiled, "it's been a bit of a roller coaster ride, but I'm fine. I'm going to make some breakfast. Do you like waffles?"

Affirmative nods were her answer and so she turned to the kitchen and started the preparations.

After the meal Kristopher and Honey sat on the couch to talk the logistics and details of her return. They discussed when – three weeks from now, and whether to go straight to Corona, or over to Arendelle first for some more in-depth training, deciding on the latter.

The topic of revealing her news to her friends here came up.

"If it will help at all, I can be here when you tell them," Kristopher offered.

Honey considered the offer. She would never have the courage on her own, but having Kristopher there would give credence to her story.

She looked up at him and gratefully nodded.

"I think that would help, thank you!" she sat back and worried her bottom lip with her teeth for a moment.

"What is it?" Kristopher asked.

"It's hard to believe that I will be saying goodbye to them forever. They are as close to family as I've ever had," Honey said, staring at the blank television screen.

"Hey," Kristopher said, gently taking her hand, "it's not going to be forever, you are a princess you know, you have your own personal jet. Once things settle down over there you can come visit them, or they can come visit you. It's not like it's the 1800's when world travel was next to impossible." He cracked a smile.

Honey sat upright.

"You're right!" she said, her face lighting up as she realized that she had been worrying for nothing. This was not going to be the last time she ever saw her friends! She turned and flung her arms around Kristopher, "Thank you!" she practically yelled, getting up and chattering happily.

"I don't know why it never occurred to me before! Maybe they should come with me to start off with. They could be very useful in the original take over! Fred and I can use our smoke cover and then Gogo will-"

"What are you going on about?" Kristopher asked, a confused look on his face.

"Oh!" Honey looked up, realizing she had just let Kristopher in on her and the gangs little secret. She played nervously with a strand of her hair.

"My friends and I, well, we are kind of… superheroes." She said, looking down, but peeking up through her lashes to gauge his reaction.

"You're what?" his voice sounded a little strangled. Honey couldn't read the expression on his face, but it didn't look impressed.

"We're," cough, "superheroes, you know, fighting crime, dispatching justice to villains, rescuing denizens in distress…" Honey trailed off as she now recognized the look on his face. He was horrified. Why was he horrified? They were doing a good thing here! They had practically erased crime in San Fransokio in just over a year! What did he have to be horrified over?

"Aiko, do you realize the sort of danger you have been putting yourself in? What if something had happened to you?!"

Oh. That's what he was horrified over. Well that was kind of sweet. Still, he needed to know she could take care of herself. She waved off his concern.

"Nothing was going to happen to us. There are six of us and usually only one or two of the bad guys, three at the most." She said reasonably, shaking off his concern.

"Aiko," he said seriously, grabbing her upper arms in his hands, "you cannot go out and fight with them again, I cannot allow it!"

Honey stared up at him in disbelief. '"uh… ok…" she heard herself saying, not sure she would be able to sit out while her friends put themselves in danger, but wanting Kristopher to lose the panicked look that was currently residing on his face.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good!"

He stalked away muttering to himself, but she thought she caught the words 'princess', 'superhero', and 'death wish'.

* * *

A few hours later Kristopher was on the phone with his uncle in Arendelle, making preparations for their arrival. Aiko's security detail was to arrive any minute and he had sent Steve to the airport to collect them. Stuart sat stoically in the corner, ever watchful as always.

"Yes, three weeks from tomorrow we should be arriving, I don't want a word about it leaked to the press, becoming a princess is daunting enough without two dozen reporters in your face."

An amazing smell wafted out from the kitchen and he breathed deeply, missing what his uncle had said.

"Sorry Uncle, what was that?" but rather than pay attention, he followed the scent into the kitchen just in time to catch Aiko holding a frypan, parrying with an imaginary foe.

"HIYA!" she lunged and smashed her invisible opponent with the frypan, swirling to face another one at her rear when she spotted him. She jumped, dropping the frypan and looking nervously from side to side. She coughed. He barely held back his grin.

"Sorry Uncle, I've got to go. I'll call you back shortly." He quickly hung up and pocketed the phone.

"Um. Exactly how much did you see?" she asked nervously, twitching her fingers together as she edged back to the stove, grabbing a spatula and stirring the mince.

Kristopher gave a small chuckle, bending to pick up the frypan.

"Enough to know not to challenge you to a duel!" He placed the pan down on the bench.

"Oh," she laughed nervously, "its just, you know, you never know when your chemical purse is not enough, not that frypans are just lying around either…" she trailed off, red faced, stirring the mince enthusiastically before turning to him again.

Kristopher watched with amused fondness, thinking how becoming she looked when her cheeks bloomed that rosy shade of pink.

"Where did Steve go?" she asked brightly, interrupting his thoughts.

"He's picking up your security guards from the airport. He should be back any-"

A knock at the door interrupted him, "-minute now." Kristopher grinned as Stuart rose to answer the door.

Honey stared in shock as three large men entered her apartment. It was going to be crowded in her tiny kitchen tonight! Maybe she should have organized to have this shindig at Fred's place.

"Aiko, I would like you to meet your security guards, Hansal, and Sven," Kristopher grinned, "Sven and I did our military training together."

"Nice to meet you," Honey said, holding out her hand to shake theirs. They hesitantly shook it, looking to Kristopher for confirmation, who just shrugged and nodded before taking Honey aside.

"You don't need to shake hands with your security. They are there for your protection." He told her quietly.

"Oh," Honey realized that she had made a faux pas but the smell of something burning kept her from dwelling too deeply on it.

"The enchiladas!" she cried, rushing back to the kitchen and stirring the mince again. Thankfully it was just a little charred, and more than salvageable.

She was just finishing up the enchiladas and putting them in the oven when the doorbell rang again.

She took a deep breath. This was it. The moment of truth.

Squaring her shoulders, she went over to the door and opened it.

"Hey guys! Come on in!"

* * *

KC


	6. Chapter 6

"Come on in guys! You're just in time for dinner, I made enchiladas and I put in my special ingredient that I know you all love!" Honey talked a mile a minute to cover her nerves as she opened the door wide and gestured the gang through to the living room. She watched their dumfounded expressions when they took in Kristopher, Steve, Stuart, Hansal and Sven.

The gang gave them dubious looks before turning questioning eyes to her.

"Oh!" she squeaked, darting through the room to make the introductions, "uh, everyone, this is Kristopher and his bodyguards, Steve and Stuart, and these are my…" she trailed off, unable to say the words aloud just yet, "this is Hansal and this is Sven, and they are all visiting from Arendelle. I'm sure you'll all get along splendidly, I've only just met most of them myself, but they are great!"

She forced herself to stop babbling and let the gang process the information. She stood, wringing her hands together as they turned wide eyes onto the large men that filled the space in her kitchen.

Of course Fred was the first to make the connection. He turned to Honey.

"I _knew_ it!" he cried, pumping his fist in the air.

Gogo arched her eyebrow at him, "knew what?" she asked.

"Honey is a princess!" he said triumphantly, "more specifically, she is the lost princess of Corona!"

The rest of the gang started laughing

"Um Fred, we know how much you love your conspiracy theories, but this is Honey Lemon we are talking about, not some long lost princess. Besides, if she's the princess what is she doing in San Fransokio?" Wasabi challenged gently once the chuckles had died down.

"Yeah, not to mention your last theory was way off." Gogo popped a bubble and crossed her arms, leaning one hip against Honey's kitchen bench.

"Ok, I admit that I was wrong about Krei and I didn't really see Callaghan coming, BUT you have to admit this one is pretty obvious!" Fred jumped up and pulled his cell phone out, quickly navigating his screen until he pulled up a picture. "This is the last picture they have of the princess of Corona, the one that fled." A few more swipes, "and this is the Queen Rapunzel, the one who was around when the great winter happened. Don't you see the resemblance?" he eagerly watched his friends, but they turned blank stares back at him, eventually turning to Honey for confirmation.

"He's not… right… is he?" Hiro asked tentatively, eyes huge.

"Um, well you see- there's a bit of a funny story with the whole- The thing is- oh my goodness I cant get this out!" Honey giggled nervously, looking back at Kristopher with a _HELP ME_ glance. She turned back to her friends and grinned, jumping slightly when she felt Kristopher's hand on her shoulder.

"As a matter of fact he is correct. Honey Lemon is the missing princess of Corona." He spoke from beside her.

Dead silence.

Honey's heart pounded as she stared at the faces of her friends, and all of a sudden she was 14 years old again, standing at the front door of a short-term emergency foster home, wondering if the person inside would accept her.

She watched intently, biting on her thumb knuckle to avoid verbal diarrhea as they tried to process this information.

Fred looked smug, he had been proven right – which didn't happen all that often - and he was basking in the moment.

Surprise had frozen Gogo, who had popped a bubble, and the gum remained spread over her lips as she stared, open mouthed at Honey.

Hiro and Wasabi frowned in confusion, looking as though they were trying to solve a difficult equation and Baymax tilted his head and blinked at her.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Honey counted 7 breaths before anyone spoke.

"No way!" Hiro whispered, the confusion clearing his features.

Honey's heart sank.

"I'm sorry Hiro, I have to-"

"That is the coolest thing ever!" he almost shouted, pumping his fist in the air. Everyone turned to him expectantly.

"don't you guys see what this means?"

"Uh, that Honey probably has a lot of real estate?" Gogo ventured.

"No!" Hiro pulled out his tablet and pulled up a news feed.

"Honey is the princess of _Corona_!" he enthused, "a country that has been overtaken by an evil dictator! With everything being so quiet here in San Fransokio, we can all go over and help rid the world of this evil! We can be actual heroes again, no more of this petty crime business! We can make an actual difference in the world!" Hiro looked at each of them, panting slightly after his passionate speech.

Kristopher cleared his throat, "I'm not sure that's such a good-"

But his objection was lost in the chatter of the rest of the team, who had taken up with his suggestion whole-heartedly and they began discussing strategy amongst themselves.

Honey watched in awe, letting out a huge breath of relief. What had she even been worried about? She scolded herself internally. These were her best friends in the world! Of course they were going to be supportive! It had taken them a moment to swallow the unbelievable truth, but here they were, planning strategy to help her reclaim her throne. She could hardly believe it! She should not have expected anything less!

Thankfulness oozed out of every pore of her body as she left them discussing tactics as she went to serve up dinner.

"That seemed to go well," Kristopher's voice behind her caused her to jump. He had followed her into the kitchen, wanting to make sure she was alright. She turned to him, smiling.

"Yes, I think so!" she reached out and grabbed his hand, "thank you for helping me, I wasn't getting the words out very well!" she squeezed gently and then turned to pull the enchiladas out of the oven, humming to herself. Everything was going to be just fine. She could feel it.

* * *

Hurried feet click clacked along marble halls, entering the imposing throne room of the Coronian castle.

Karl sat regally upon the throne, surrounded by guards and advisors and members of the court. He dismissed them all with a wave of his hand as Wesley, his chief of international surveillance entered the room, coming to bow before him. He said nothing as they left, his eyes never leaving the man standing with his head respectfully inclined.

The room finally cleared and Wesley looked up at Karl.

"We have confirmed the location of the princess, your majesty,"

Karl did not let his features convey the rage that he felt inside, though his hand shook as he lifted his chalice to his lips and took a pull of the expensive wine within it. He put the chalice down with a clatter and rose from the throne, pacing towards the window.

Those blasted Arendellians had to go and ruin everything with their search for the stupid heir. Karl sneered as he imagined what he would do if he ever came face to face with one of their snotty princes. Who did they think they were dealing with that they assumed he would just step aside for some waif of a woman just because she was the rightful heir? Well never mind their plans to dethrone him with her, he had plans of his own.

He turned back to Wesley and raised an eyebrow.

"You know what to do."

Wesley pressed one fist against his chest and bowed, leaving the room, the big double doors slamming on his way out.

* * *

**KC**

**Hello again my friends! So sorry for the long delay, but holidays and family stuff and work stuff and you probably know the drill! Leave me a message and let me know what you think! x**


	7. Chapter 7

Honey frowned as she surveyed the room. There were boxes in every corner, and belongings strewn about everywhere, newspapers for wrapping delicate items littering the floor. Hansal and Sven were in the next room, dismantling her bookcase, dresser and desk to be packed into boxes and sent over in a container.

She sighed and sank onto the one sitting space left on the couch. How was she ever going to get all this packed up and ready to go in time for graduation and leaving? Even with everyone's help today the place looked like a bomb had hit it. She stared up at the ceiling contemplating everything that was still left to do when Gogo pushed some stuff onto the floor and plopped down beside her.

"So," she said, popping a bubble and eyeing Honey sideways, "looks like all your princess dreams actually meant something,"

"Huh," Honey huffed in surprise, "I guess they did. Too bad they didn't tell me any useful information about how to be a princess!" she slumped back against the couch.

"I'm sure you will be the most bad-ass princess in the history of Corona!" Gogo said.

Honey smiled over at her friend, boosted a little from her encouragement. Gogo smiled back.

"I'm sure Kristopher would be happy to help," she said, watching Honey carefully for her reaction.

Honey, sensing the probe, suppressed her smile and snarked, "yes, I'm sure he knows all about how to be a princess."

Gogo let out a laugh.

"Seriously though girl, the guy is pretty hot." She popped a bubble.

Honey blushed and looked down at her hands, wishing the gang would get back with the pizza already. She didn't have time to dissect her feelings for Kristopher. Not when there was a tyrannical overlord threatening her people, and the people of Kristopher's kingdom, to be overthrown. Not when she had a limited time to learn how to be a princess, run a country and think about the lives of a few hundred thousand people who were counting on her but didn't even know it.

For now she just needed to ignore the extra hard thumping her heart did in his presence and focus on what was important.

Gogo was right though. He was pretty hot. Her cheeks flushed.

"What? Oh, yeah sure, I suppose," she looked everywhere but at Gogo.

Gogo smirked a knowing smirk, "oh girl, you are so gone!"

"What?" Honey scoffed, "gone, I'm not gone! So what if he is a handsome prince that has come to whisk me away to some far off country. I don't have time to think about this right now."

"Honey, right now may be the only time you have to think about this. Soon enough you are going to be kicking some fake-king butt. Maybe you should spend five minutes figuring this stuff out so it's not distracting when you are in the middle of said butt-kicking?"

Honey could not argue with that logic. She stared at her friend for a beat considering, before sighing in defeat and laying her head back down against the sofa, staring at the ceiling.

She considered their interactions so far, Kristopher's face floating at the forefront of her imagination. She thought about his small acts of kindness and the respect he treated everyone with. Her heart melted a little as she recalled just that morning he had brought in coffee for everyone and how her whole being had buzzed when their fingers brushed for a brief moment when he handed hers to her, how her face had flushed when he warned her to be careful because the drink was hot. She closed her eyes and groaned.

"Gogo I am so gone over this guy!" she admitted.

Gogo sat up and faced her, that knowing smirk still on her face. She tilted her head to the side and popped another bubble.

"So what are you going to do about it?" she asked.

Honey huffed as she thought about it. She could not dwell on it for too long however, as at that moment, the rest of the gang turned up

"PIZZA!" Hiro announced enthusiastically as they spilled into the apartment.

Hansal and Sven darted out of the other room at the noise, hands on their holsters, relaxing when they saw it was the gang.

Honeys eyes were drawn to Kristopher as he entered, and at the sight of him, she questioned the logic she had believed only moments ago. Now that she knew she liked Kristopher, it was going to be a whole lot harder to focus on the more important things.

She watched intently as he grabbed a large slice of pepperoni and lifted it to his lips. He paused, his eyes darted up to meet hers. She blushed and dropped her eyes, accepting a plate from Wasabi and trying to calm the racing of her heart. It was just a crush, just a silly crush. She needed to focus on the main goal – dethroning Karl. She glared at Gogo out of the corner of her eyes, but her friend just smiled serenely, before getting up and grabbing a slice of Pizza on her way out the door.

"Gotta run gang, see you all tomorrow."

It wasn't long before the rest of the gang followed her out. It had been a long day and everyone was exhausted. Eventually only Kristopher and the guards remained. Honey got up to see them to the door as they left.

"See you tomorrow then,"

"See you tomorrow."

Honey offered a half smile and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Hey," Kristopher put his hands on her shoulders and she looked up at him, "you are going to be a great princess."

"The most kick-ass one in the history of Corona," she smiled at repeating Gogo's words, her friends confidence in her boosting her spirits.

Kristopher laughed and smiled down at her, a look of admiration on his face.

"I bet you will,"

He squeezed her shoulders and dropped his arms and Honey watched him go before turning back to her apartment, climbing into her bed and falling into exhausted sleep.

* * *

KC


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: hey friends, so if you have not yet read this chapter, please ignore this note and go right on ahead, if you HAVE read this chapter, sorry, but I changed the ending. I got some feedback that I TOTALLY agreed with and so did a re-write.. sorry if you liked it better the other way, but I have a feeling the story will be better in the long run now. Also thank you to those who have left reviews, it always makes my day :)**

**Peace**

* * *

Honey stared mutely at the dinner setting laid out in front of her. She shook her head, trying to listen to what Kristopher was patiently explaining to her. He leaned over and picked up the fork the farthest to the left of her.

"This is your salad fork," he said, laying the utensil back down and gesturing to the others as he went along, "then there is the fish fork, and the dinner fork on that side. The knife on the small plate over here is your butter knife, and these two up here above your plate are for desert." He paused and looked up at her. She tried to look like she was taking this in, but really she was wondering why someone needed three different knives and five different forks for one meal.

"On this side we have the salad knife, the meat knife, the fish knife, soup spoon, tea spoon and fish fork."

Honey blinked rapidly, repeating them to herself as he said them, trying to memorize the order. She would need proper etiquette eventually, but she couldn't help but feeling it wasn't all that important right now. Not when she had an entire country to save from an evil dictator. They should be talking take over strategy and combat techniques, not how to drink tea with your pinkie in the air.

Her hands started shaking and her heart sped up, anger flushing her cheeks as she thought about what he had done to her country. She took a deep breath to calm herself. She only had to wait four more days until she would be on the way over there to help - four days, one graduation ceremony, and more boxes than she ever wanted to see in her life again.

"Kristopher?" she interrupted.

"Yes?"

She took a deep breath, "I need a break from princess lessons."

He blinked, surprised. "Of course, was there something you wanted to talk about instead?"

"Yeah – what's the plan? How are we going to get rid of Karl?" she leaned forward in her seat.

"Well it's going to be tricky. He keeps his loyal, Southern Isles guards closest, and conscripts Coronian nationals to go over and fight his war for him."

Honeys face scrunched in confusion, "why would they do that?"

"Blackmail. Karl has their families threatened, kills dissidents to set an example and keep them scared. Southern Isle nationals command all the battalions, but most of the troops are Coronians."

"But… how…" Honeys face was a frozen shock of horror and she couldn't complete her sentence. Her hands were shaking again and she couldn't see straight.

"We've been taking as many Coronians as we can as 'prisoners', keeping them in safe houses until they can be released. But we are running out of places to keep them. It's a good thing I found you when I did."

Honey stared at him for a moment, processing, before she pushed away from the table and walked out of the room. Kristopher sat waiting for a moment, but got up to follow when he heard the front door open and close. He knew her bodyguards would be close behind he wanted to be there and offer what comfort he could.

He jogged down the stairs after her and caught up at the end of the next block. Their bodyguards trailed them close enough to aid if needed, but far enough away that they had a bit of privacy.

"I'm ok," Honey said before he could say anything. He was about to disagree but she cut him off, "I just want one more hour to not be a princess. One last hour to enjoy this city before I get caught up in all that crazy again." She took a deep breath and looked up at him. "Have you ever seen the cherry blossoms by the lake?" she asked.

"No, as a matter of fact, I have not." He replied.

Without a further word, they meandered to the lake, finding a bench and sitting down. Kristopher, who found his brain had trouble booting out of 'prince' mode, opted to say nothing, but enjoy the beautiful afternoon and let Honey work through whatever she was dealing with in silence. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, breathing in the aroma of the cherry blossoms on the breeze.

After a while he heard her sigh.

"This is nice isn't it?" she asked.

"Yes, it's a beautiful day." They sat, side by side, staring at the lake in silence for a few moments.

"I can't believe what Karl has done to Corona," she said quietly, "I always knew it was a bad situation over there, but I had no idea. And now that I know who I am, I just-" she broke off, tears built up in her eyes and dripped down her cheeks, "What if I can't fix it?" she said, turning to Kristopher, hopelessness in her expression.

"Hey shhh," he said, sliding closer to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "We will fix this, together. You are not alone in this. We are going to get your country back!" he lifted his other hand to wipe her tears, but Honey beat him to it, wiping her face before resting her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and drew in a shuddering breath. Without stopping to think about it, Kristopher leaned in and pressed a kiss to her brow. Honey's hand tightened to a fist on his chest, gathering the material of his shirt. She imagined lifting her face to his and kissing him, but self-doubt kept her face down. Heart beating and face flaming, she disengaged from Kristopher's arms and wrapped her own around herself, hugging her knees to her chest, forcing out a laugh.

"Sorry, here I go with my mood swings again. It's just really infuriating what that, that-" words escaped her and she let out a frustrated sound, "has done to my country! Every time I hear new details I just get so mad! Then there's also the nagging fact that I don't have the foggiest idea about overthrowing a dictator or ruling a country!" She sighed, "This has been a big couple of weeks."

"I think you are doing remarkably well," Kristopher said mildly, "I can't imagine being in your position, and you are handling yourself with grace, poise, and surprisingly few freak-outs. I'm confident you will make a great ruler, you have the heart for the people and a level head on your shoulders."

Honey's heart lifted at his words. She turned to look at him, taking in his compassionate smile. It soon turned to a concerned frown though as he continued.

"I wish I could say the overthrowing-a-dictator part would be easy for you, but I'm expecting quite the opposite. Karl is not going to willingly step down, not to mention re-introducing a lost royal is tricky enough without a good-for-nothing-son-of-a-"

Honey jumped up, cutting him off, clinging to the encouragement he had offered just moments ago.

"One thing at a time," she said, "Lets go get me as princess-y as we can before graduation, come up with a plan with your strategists back home and get this done!" she offered him a hand up, which he took. He smiled down at her for a moment and her heart sped up. Blushing she looked down. There was no time for that now. She inwardly scolded herself to focus. She glanced up at him again, thankfulness filling her heart.

Thankfulness there was time for, she decided.

"Thank you, by the way," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"For what?" Kristopher seemed surprised at her gratitude. She smiled at the thought that his steady character was so _him_ that he didn't expect thanks for it, but she wanted him to know it was appreciated.

"You have been so understanding through my rollercoaster emotions. I'm glad you're helping me figure this stuff out."

Kristopher smiled warmly and offered her his arm.

"You are more than welcome, shall we resume princess lessons?" he asked with a smile.

Honey smiled back, her heart lighter than it had been all day. She slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow, "We shall."

* * *

KC


	9. Chapter 9

Wesley turned off his communicator, satisfied that his man on the ground had things under control. Tomorrow was the princess's graduation, and they day they had chosen to put their plan into action. It was three days before that oaf from Arendelle had decided to bring her over anyway. He smiled maliciously. One might even say he was doing them a favour, bringing her here early. He was almost certain they wouldn't see it that way, but such is life.

The plane taxi'd down the runway, landing with but a few bounces. He disembarked and quickly made his way to the hotel.

* * *

"I can't believe its today!" Honey gushed to Gogo in the dressing room as they donned their graduation gowns.

Gogo glanced over at Honey and let out a rare smile. The girls came together in a tight embrace.

"I'm so proud of you Honey!" Gogo whispered.

"I'm so proud of YOU!" Honey repeated the sentiment. "I couldn't have done this without you."

"Oh sure you could have. Now," Gogo, shrugging off the mushy moment, was back to business, "let's go get graduated!"

Honey smiled and they linked arms, making their way to the rest of their graduating class. Sven, who had been waiting just outside the dressing room, followed them, shadowing Honey but giving her enough distance to embrace and talk with her friends. Hansal was waiting at the other end of the stage for after she had accepted her diploma. The team figured she should be able to cross a stage without mishap – especially considering they were the only ones who knew she was actually a princess.

It was amazing actually, how used to their presence Honey had become. She hardly noticed them hanging around anymore. Their presence was reassuring, but they were careful not to be intrusive. She really appreciated their professionalism.

Before long she was lining up for her turn to walk the stage and accept her diploma. She glanced out to the audience and saw Hiro, Wasabi, Fred, and Kristopher cheering her on. Kristopher was grinning wider than any of them and her heart gave a small skip. She gave them a small wave as she skipped across the stage and accepted her diploma. She descended the stairs on the other side to a waiting Hansal, who appeared edgier than normal.

"Is everything ok Hansal?" She asked, looking up at her normally stoic guard.

"I'm sorry princess, I've just received a report there is someone in the country who would do you harm. A potential kidnapping, or worse. You need to come with me right now."

Fear bubbled up in her stomach. Potential to be kidnapped? Why today of all days? The only day when her chemical purse wasn't in easy reach. She made a mental note to just bring it with her all the time in future.

He took her under one arm and propelled her out of the crowded auditorium.

"Wait," Honey said, "what about Kristopher?"

"All due respect, your majesty, you are my priority. Stuart and Steve are very experienced and will be able to protect him."

She nodded with understanding as he ushered her into a waiting car, sliding into the front seat.

The divider was up between the front seat and the back, and the windows were tinted. Honey sighed in disappointment when she realized she wouldn't be able to see Gogo get her diploma. She watched the passing city go by and hoped her friend would understand. She watched a few more streets and realised they weren't heading back to her apartment. She tried to lower the divider, but it wouldn't budge. Strange. She knocked tentatively

"Hansal? Sven?"

The divider lowered, and Hansal poked his head through.

"Is everything ok your majesty?"

"Uh, yeah, I just noticed we aren't going home?"

"We are taking you to a safe house. If Karls guy knows you are here, it's likely he also knows your address. Don't worry Princess, you are safe with us."

"Oh, ok."

Hansal passed her a bottle of water.

"It's going to be quite a long trip to the safe house. Here's some water, I'm sorry we don't have any food with us, but there will be some when we get there."

Despite his reassurances, Honey felt less safe than she had felt in a long time. She sipped on the water absently. How come she had never heard of this safe house before? The divider returned to its closed position, and Honey could only hope Kristopher would be there to explain everything when she got there.

* * *

"Have you seen Honey?" Kristopher asked Gogo a little later.

Gogo looked up at him, "No, not since we lined up, but I'm sure she's around here somewhere."

The crowd of graduates and celebrating parents, siblings, and friends was thick and not easy to get through. Kristopher had a bad feeling in his gut that he couldn't shake. He couldn't find Honey, and Hansal and Sven were nowhere to be found either. He went to the side of the stage where he had last seen her, but found no clues there. He came back around the front, and ran into Sven, who had been moving very fast.

"Sven! Oh thank God! Where is Honey?" he asked, relieved to have found one of her guards.

Sven gave him a wild, slightly panicked look.

"Sven?" dread settled in Kristopher's gut as he took in his friends face. "No." he whispered, turning to frantically search the room as he tried to figure out how much time had passed since he had seen Honey and where she could possibly be now. He sent Stuart with Sven, keeping Steve with him as they searched the quickly emptying auditorium for clues to her whereabouts.

Hiro came back into the auditorium.

"Hey guys, what's up? How cool is it that Honey and Gogo have both graduated!"

"Hiro," Kristopher said, trying to keep the panic from his voice, "we think something's happened to Honey, do you know anything that could help us find her?"

Hiro quickly sobered, standing up straight and regarding Kristopher seriously.

"I've got just the thing," he advised.

He tapped a few times on his watch and gestured Kristopher and the guards to follow him. Kristopher was hesitant to leave the place where he had seen her last, but a final glance around still revealed no clue as to her whereabouts, he gave up and followed Hiro.

Back in Hiro's garage, the whole team huddled around the screen as Hiro was explaining something he had modified in the watches he gave them all as Christmas presents.

"I figured sooner or later one of us was bound to get into some serious trouble, and it would be great to have some way of finding us if that happened, and so, I present to you:" with a flick of his wrist, Hiro enlarged the screen and a large holographic map filled the garage. Wasabi patted Hiro on the back.

"This is great Hiro!"

They studied the holograph. Five beacons lit the area that Kristopher quickly surmised was the place they were standing right now. He desperately searched for the sixth beacon, finding the flashing pink light in the holograph just as Gogo pointed it out.

"Here she is,"

"That's the airport," Fred said, frowning.

Kristopher paled and looked at the three guards. Without another word they exited the building and jumped in the car. Hiro passed him a flat electronic thing as he made his way outside. Kristopher grabbed it without looking at it twice.

While on the way to the airport, Kristopher made a few phone calls.

"Dad, something's happened. Call me when you get this," he hung up and called his fathers chief advisor, but had to leave another message. He called his brother last of all, but didn't even bother to leave a message as they had arrived at the airport. They jumped out, Sven and Steve ran up to speak with someone in the control tower, Kristopher checked the item Hiro had passed him and found that he held a small port screen that held a 2d version of the holograph displaying Honey's beacon. He breathed a thank you to the boy genius and considered hiring him for his security team before the flashing pink beacon on the map reminded him why he was here. He and Stuart followed the map out onto the tarmac reserved for private jets and royal planes. He looked up but no planes were in motion, in fact, the yard was very quiet. Stuart called out and Kristopher rushed over to him.

Stuart held out a watch and Kristopher's heart sank. They were too late. He looked up at the sky before whipping out his phone.

"Steve, call the pilot and have him ready to leave immediately." Hanging up he was immediately dialing.

"Gogo, we found her watch, can you ask Hiro if he has anything else? Any other tracking or CCTV or anything that can help us find out where she's going?"

He heard Gogo's muffled voice as she repeated the information to Hiro.

"He's hacking into the security footage now. Hang on," he waited patiently as they checked the security footage, showing her getting on a small private jet. Hiro then checked the dialogue between the Jet and the tower to find out where they had stated that they were going.

"They're taking her to Corona," Gogo eventually said.

Kristopher cursed. Karl was going to kill her. He was going to take the Coronians hope and kill her in front of everyone. He hung up without signing off and called Stuart back.

"Status on the pilot?" he almost barked.

"En route sir, ETA 15 minutes."

Kristopher breathed in, trying to calm himself, but feeling nothing but panic at the thought of Honey in Karl's possession. He closed his eyes and told himself to focus. Just focus on getting her back.

"Ok, get yourself and Sven down here, we are leaving as soon as we can."

"Yes sir."

* * *

KC


	10. Chapter 10

Honey opened bleary eyes with a pounding headache. Where was she? She squinted and raised herself up to her elbows, looking around at the small, unfamiliar room she found herself in. What was that deafening noise? It almost sounded like a turbine engine. She checked her wrist for the time, but the watch that Hiro had gotten her for Christmas was gone. She could have sworn she put that on this morning. She noticed she was still in her graduation gown and slowly the events just after receiving her diploma came back to her as she woke up. There was someone in the country, someone who planned to kidnap or murder her. Hansal and Sven had been taking her to a safe house. But why did it feel like they were flying? Was the safe house in another country? Needing answers, she jumped up and rushed to the door. Breathlessly, she pulled on the handle, but the door didn't budge.

"What the?" she muttered to herself. She looked around the room. There was the bed on which she had been laying on, a small door that led to what she assumed to be an ensuite, and a couple of windows that looked to be peculiarly like airplane windows. She rushed over and raised the shade on one of them, falling back towards the bed when the site outside confirmed her suspicion. There was nothing to see but ocean and sky. She was on a plane, going who knows where. She didn't even know how long they had been flying, she couldn't remember boarding the plane at all! She closed her eyes and tried to think, the last thing she did remember was Hansal telling her they were taking her to a safe house, and giving her some funky tasting water.

She went back to the door and banged on it loudly.

"HEY!" she shouted. "LET ME OUT OF HERE! WHAT'S GOING ON?"

She stopped to listen to see if anyone had heard her.

"I told you that pill wouldn't last until we got there!" an unrecognizable voice said

"The bottle said ten to twelve hours!" that sounded like Hansal. She frowned.

"Yeah, but she only drank half the bottle! What are you going to do now?"

Did they mean the water she had been given in the limo?

"Calm down, I'll handle this."

The door swung open and she backed hurriedly away until her legs bumped into the bed.

"Your highness," Hansal bowed deeply in the doorway, but kept it blocked. Honey watched him, her guard up. Something was not right here. Determined not to let him see her suspicion just yet, she faked relief at the sight of his face.

"Hansal, thank goodness, whats going on?" she asked him.

"We've decided that for your safety, we must take you over to Corona earlier than planned," Hansal advised.

Honey frowned. This didn't make sense. If that was the truth, why hadn't he just told her that instead of drugging her to get her on the plane? And weren't they supposed to be going to Arendelle first to arrange strategies and get her more training? More questions rose, and her suspicion was well and truly roused.

"Oh," she said, trying to think her way out of this situation. "Where is Kristopher?"

"He's overlooking the packing of the rest of your things your highness," Hansal lied smoothly.

Honey eyed him apprehensively. Kristopher could have easily left someone else in charge of that. Surely he would have wanted to accompany her to Arendelle. Or Corona. Or wherever they were going. It slowly dawned on her that she had been tricked. The kidnapping Hansal had been warning her about was himself. She wondered if Sven was in on it too. Her heart thudded in her chest as she tried to come up with an escape plan, but failed. She was in a flying tin, probably headed to her death right this very moment.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Hansal offered, smirking as he bowed low. He had seen the realisation dawn on her face, and his smugness sickened her.

"Uh, no, no that will be all." Honey watched as he backed out of the room, pulling the door closed behind him. She heard the lock click and the panic she had been burying started clawing at her chest.

She scrunched her eyes closed and sat down on the bed, pulling her knees to her chest. "Breathe," she ordered herself, "don't panic, and just breathe. Use that big brain of yours and find another angle."

* * *

Karl grinned at the email on his computer screen. They had her! She was on her way here! Soon enough he could carry out the rest of his plan, and then there would be no more idea's about overthrowing him. He chuckled to himself. Who did these Arendellians thing they were dealing with? An amateur? He scoffed and mentally calculated how long before they would arrive. He had preparations to organize. He grabbed his phone and started dialing.

* * *

Kristopher fidgeted in his seat. He knew they couldn't go any faster and found himself wishing he had thought to bring a fighter jet. Maybe they could have caught up to them and- and what? Shot them out of the air? He shook his head, leaning forward on his knees and holding his head in his hands. How could he have been so stupid? How had that weasel slipped through the system? He had eventually spoken with his father, advising there was a traitor among them – possibly more than one, for he assumed it was not just luck that had Hansal assigned to Aiko's personal guard. Thankfully father had taken the news very seriously and begun reviewing all the background checks on all of the guards and staff and soldiers. It was going to be a long process, and one they didn't need right now, but finding any more traitors among them would help them in the long run.

"Why the long face dude?"

Kristopher jolted upright. He had forgotten all about his guests. Fred sat across from him, lounging on one of the aircrafts leather recliners. Kristopher frowned.

"Your friend is in terrible danger. Aren't you worried?"

Fred sipped from his glass and shrugged. "Yeah of course I am, but we are on our way now right? There's nothing more we can do right at this second. We'll get there and rescue her - if she hasn't rescued herself already. Honey knows how to kick some serious ass."

Kristopher eyed him doubtfully. Gogo popped up over the back of his chair and shot a withering glare at Fred.

"You're forgetting one small detail Fred, Honey didn't have her purse with her."

Fred frowned, "that does indeed complicate things."

Kristopher tuned them out as they continued to banter. What if they had already killed her? What if they were taking her somewhere else and the bit about Corona to the air tower was just a diversion? Kristopher closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He had to stop imagining the worst.

A hand on his shoulder startled him and he turned to see young Hiro at his side.

"Don't worry your highness, we'll find her."

Kristopher took a deep breath. Fred was right about one thing anyways, there wasn't anything he could do right now.

* * *

KC


End file.
